


Arrowheads

by Oricalle



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drabble, Friendship, Gen, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oricalle/pseuds/Oricalle
Summary: On a visit to the archery range, Claude finds someone already occupying his usual spot.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Arrowheads

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Secret Santa gift for Shadow!

For Claude von Riegan, few things took the edge off of an early morning better than a trip to the archery range. Most things were uncertain in the young noble’s life: his plans for the future, his status in the tumultuous politics of Leicester, his chances of making it through the next church assignment without an axehead embedded in his person, but he knew one thing for sure.

He was pretty damn good at shooting a bow.

At this hour, when the sun barely peeked over the trees outside Garreg Mach, and the early morning dew still coated the grass he stepped on, Claude had expected the student’s section of the range to be empty. However, the moment he closed the gate behind him, Claude could hear the familiar whistle of an arrow being loosed, and the satisfying crunch of an impacted target. Standing at the back of the range was a youth with silver hair, a bow clutched in his hands as he surveyed the results of his last shot. Even from meters away, Claude could make out the Blue Lions insignia embroidered on his uniform.

“Morning!” Claude called with a wave, leisurely strolling towards the unexpected occupant.

“Hey!” he called back, not taking his eyes off of the target. When he turned to face Claude, however, a peal of shock seemed to run across his features. “Oh! Oh my! Lord Riegan, I apologize for the, uh, familiarity! Please excuse me, would you like to use the range?”

Claude blinked. “Uh, yeah, I would.”

“Pardon me, I’ll leave at once!”

“Wait, wait, hold on!” Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Claude approached the skittish archer. “There are more open slots here than I can count, and I consider myself a rather high quality counter. You certainly don’t need to leave. And you certainly don’t have to call me “Lord Riegan”, it’s aging me six months every time I hear it.”

“Noted.” breathed the archer.

“Claude’s fine.” The Riegan heir extended a hand, meeting the Lion’s eyes. “And I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ve caught your name.”

The archer took Claude’s hand in his own, giving a quiet nod. His palms were calloused, and Claude could have sworn he felt a scar running across one of the fingers. They were strange hands for a noble.

“I’m Ashe. Ashe Ubert. A pleasure, Lor-...Claude.”

Claude chuckled. “There we go. Back in the prime of my youth.” He lifted a bow from the training rack affixed to the rear wall and scooped up a handful of the loose arrows scattered in the grass. “I’ll try and keep quiet so you can focus. Have a good one!”

As he practiced, Claude couldn’t help but notice Ashe’s shooting out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it was his natural curiosity, or perhaps simple boredom, but something was intriguing about the other man’s technique.

“Hey!” Claude called, after watching Ashe sink another arrow into the center of his target. “Do you mind if I give you a little advice?”

“Huh?” Ashe looked confused, but quickly shook it away. “No, not at all!”

Trudging through the grass, Claude tilted his head towards the row of targets. “Nock and get ready to shoot, I want to show you something.”

Slightly puzzled, Ashe obeyed, watching as Claude slowly circled him, eyes on his form.

“You don’t pull your elbow back all the way on the draw.” he mused. “You’ve got plenty of space in an open field like this, and you’d get a lot more distance that way.”

“Oh!” His eyes sparkling, Ashe quickly took the advice, pulling his arm back a few inches further. “Like this, then?”

“Yeah, give it a shot!”

Taking a moment to aim, Ashe released the drawstring, letting the arrow soar through the air. The pair of archers watched as it sunk deep into the center of the target, sending tiny spurts of hay fluttering through the air.

Claude whistled. “Nice one.”

“Wow.” Ashe muttered. “That’s more power than I expected. Didn’t even realize I was making that mistake!” He turned to Claude, beaming. “Thank you!”

“Hey, no problem. No skin off my nose.” His curiosity sated, Claude prepared to return to his own drills. However, something caught his eye at the last moment, a swish of black against the bright blue backdrop of the morning sky.

“Hold on a sec, Ashe.”

“Hmm?”

Claude pointed at the top of Ashe’s quiver. “Those arrows look...different. Not the usual monastery stock, am I right?”

“Oh, yeah!” With a flick of his wrist, Ashe reached into the quiver and withdrew a stack of arrows, handing them to Claude. They were different than the ammunition the Knights used. These arrows had curious markings in the shafts, feathers of many different colors on the ends, and heads made of a darker material. “Custom arrows.” Ashe added, nodding at the ones that Claude was inspecting. “I’ve got even more of them back at the dormitories.”

“Nice…” muttered Claude, testing the way they felt between his fingers. “Looks like these things are kitted out. They’re lighter, so they’ll go further, but the arrowhead seems sharp enough to make up for any loss in power. Where did you buy them?”

Ashe shook his head. “I didn’t buy anything. Made them myself.”

“Whoa, really?” Taken aback, Claude gave Ashe a wide-eyed stare. “Where did you get the materials?”

“You’d be surprised what the nobles in Faerghus toss away.”

“And who taught you?”

Ashe’s lips tightened. “You’d be surprised _who_ the nobles in Faerghus toss away.” 

The mood on the range had darkened. The glimmer in Ashe’s eyes seemed to have dimmed, sparking back slowly once he noticed Claude’s gaze. “Sorry. Don’t mean to-”

“It’s alright.” Claude replied. “Trust me, I get it.” With a lazy gesture, he pointed at the distant row of targets. “Would you mind if I try one of your arrows out, though? Want to see what they can do.”

“No problem!” 

Claude took the arrow from Ashe’s outstretched hand and nocked it, feeling the familiar tension in his forearm as he pulled back, eyes on the faraway mark. In a single fluid motion, he released his shot, grinning as it carved a level path through the air and sunk itself deep into the target.

“Ashe, I think this just might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, Shadow! I heard you mention liking Claude and Ashe, so I thought I'd try to write a piece with the two of them in it. Hopefully it turned out to your liking!


End file.
